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ALERT: Don't Let the INS Violate Your Privacy! (Feb. 3rd Deadline)

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has proposed a new
rule that would require all individuals leaving or entering the
United States -- including U.S. citizens -- to provide detailed
personal information in advance of an aircraft or vessel's arrival
in or departure from the United States. This rule harms personal
privacy and flies in the face of Americans' Constitutional right to
travel. It has also been rushed through Washington without adequate
time for public comment. EFF only recently became aware of the
rule-making which ends on Monday, February 3rd.

Tell the INS how you feel about this program with the EFF Action
Center! It's fast, free, and easy. Learn more and take action here:

EFF Submits Comments to FCC Requesting More Open Spectrum

EFF recently filed comments on the report of the Federal
Communication Commission's (FCC) Spectrum Policy Task Force, asking
the Commission to continue to investigate new models for spectrum
allocation. EFF specifically suggested techniques that would result
in reduced spectrum scarcity and increased options for unlicensed
use of the airwaves. The creation of the unlicensed "ISM"
(Instrumentation, Scientific and Medical) band paved the way for
WiFi, Bluetooth, and other innovative wireless technologies. The FCC
is investigating ways of building on the success of this experiment,
and EFF is pleased to be a part of that policy-making process.

Links:

EFF Submits Comments on "German DMCA"

As part of its ongoing effort to avoid the worldwide export of
overbroad DMCA-type legislation, EFF submitted comments this week to
the German judicial commission, which is considering draft DMCA-type
legislation. The German judicial commission is currently holding
hearings on draft German legislation to implement the 2001 European
Union Copyright Directive (EUCD). Article 6 of the EUCD requires
European member countries to pass national legislation to provide
"adequate legal protection" for "technological measures." Member
countries were required to pass national legislation by December 21,
2002, but so far only two European countries have decided to do so.

EFF's comments focus on the U.S. experience with the
anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA, including the chilling
effect those provisions have had on free speech and scientific
research, their use to stifle innovation and competition, and their
use to drastically reduce consumers' existing fair use rights. EFF's
comments focus on the scope of protection that should be provided to
copyright owners' "technological measures" and recommend provisions
to protect German consumers' existing legal rights to make private,
non-commercial uses of copyright works and to maintain the copyright
balance inherent in German law.

Links:

Transcript of Oral Argument Before FISA Appeals Court now Available

Last November, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
(FISCR) allowed the Justice Department to use special foreign
intelligence surveillance powers in criminal investigations.

The transcript of the 3-hour, first-ever oral argument before the
FISCR (Sept. 9, 2002) provides an unprecedented look at the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) after it was amended by the
Patriot Act.

A coalition of civil liberties groups, including EFF, had opposed
DOJ in a brief amicus curiae submitted after the oral argument.

The case began in May after the lower Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court (FISC) rejected a DOJ proposal to allow FISA to
be used for criminal investigations and to allow prosecutors to
direct and control FISA surveillance. Instead, the FISC modified the
DOJ proposal, reciting a history of government abuse that included
serious errors in at least 75 cases (PDF).

EFF hopes to have a text version in a few days and thanks the office
of Senator Patrick Leahy for the hard copy.

Links:

Skipping Commercials is not a Crime

Attention ReplayTV Owners:

As many of you know, Hollywood bigwigs have started claiming that
skipping commercials is a violation of copyright law. Based on this
ridiculous claim, they have unleashed their lawyers on SonicBlue,
the creator of the ReplayTV. In response to concern from ReplayTV
customers, EFF brought a lawsuit on behalf of Craig Newmark of
Craigslist.org and four other ReplayTV owners to declare that the
use of the ReplayTV, including the commercial skipping feature, is
completely legal.

We are preparing the case for trial (currently scheduled for
October, 2003) but we need your help. In order to counter
Hollywood's claims, we need to hire one or two expert witnesses to
dig through Hollywood's claims about the potential effect of
consumer use of the ReplayTV on the markets for television and
movies on TV. We have experts who are willing to do the work, but
they need to be compensated for the substantial amount of time this
will take.

We're asking for special, targeted donations from ReplayTV owners
and others so that we can hire these experts and put on the best
case possible for Craig and co.

Willing to help out? Become an EFF member or one-time donor by
visiting:

Who Controls Your Digital Media? Shouldn't it Be You? (19 Days Left!)

Have you had trouble playing a CD in your car or computer? Do you hate
the inability to fast forward through the advertisements on your DVDs?
Ever been unable to play a foreign DVD on a player you bought in the
U.S.? If so, you know there's something wrong with this picture.

You may not know it, but these kinds of problems are made possible by
a U.S. law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Every
three years, the Librarian of Congress looks at how the DMCA is
working and decides whether to make exemptions for people who want
to use their digital media in legitimate ways. The process ends on
February 19th and will not be open again for three years.

This may sound complicated, but making a difference can be simple.

What You Can Do

We're looking for real world examples of how access to digital media
is being hampered, and that's where you come in. All you need to do is
tell the Librarian that you're sick of not being able to use the stuff
you buy in the ways you want.

This is your chance to stand up and fight! Your story will be
submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office in support of our efforts to
seek DMCA exemptions.

We can only accept stories that fall into these categories:

Copy protected CDs that won't play in devices like your car
stereo or computer

Region-coded DVDs that don't work in a player you purchased in
the U.S.

DVDs with promotional material you couldn't skip

DVDs of public domain movies that you can't use in a way that
you want

If you don't personally have examples but know of someone who does,
please tell us about them or let them know about our search and
encourage them to contact us.

So jump up from the sidelines and transcend the borders of your web
browser! Now you can do something concrete to stop our digital
freedoms from becoming just fond memories. Visit this page to fight
for your rights:

SXSW Giveaway for EFFector Subscribers

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival, scheduled for
March 7-11 in Austin, TX, is offering EFFector subscribers a chance
to win one of two free registrations. Value of each registration is
$250. Travel expenses are not included

To be eligible to receive one of these freebies, send an email
titled "EFF/SXSW Registration Giveaway" to "hugh@sxsw.com." Please
include in this email a two-sentence explanation of why you are most
deserving to get the free registration; more than two sentences, and
your entry will be disqualified.

All entries must be received by 5:00 pm CST on Monday, February 3.
One winner will be selected randomly from all entries received; the
other winner will be selected on the merit of the two-sentence
mini-essay. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, February 5.

Thanks to Mailman Developers

EFF would like to thank the developers of the open source mailing
list program Mailman for version 2.1. Thanks also to Jon Carnes for
writing a special patch for EFF, making it possible for us to
upgrade the software.

Deep Links

Deep Links features noteworthy news items, victories, and threats from
around the Internet.

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